This paper describes regional reform and the characteristics of municipalities, with a special focus on rural Germany. Municipal regional reforms have been conducted since the mid-1960s and continued at the end of the 1970s in the old federal states of Germany in conjunction with regional planning. Although all municipalities have adopted the usual one-tier system (Einheitsgemeinde) in the high population-density states of North Rhine-Westfalia, Hesse, and Saarland, both the usual one-tier system and municipality unions (Gemeinde-verbände) have been formed in the more rural federal states. Within these municipal unions, there are various types. While the unified municipalities (Samtgemeinden) in Lower Saxony and the combined municipalities (Verbandsgemeinden) in Rhineland-Palatinate belong to legally recognized regional organizations, the member municipalities still have highly competent administrative offices (Ämter) in Schleswig-Holstein and administrative communities (Verwaltungsgemeinschaften) in Bavaria. Moreover, the administrative communities in Baden-Württemberg consist of two types: municipal administrative unions (Gemeindeverwaltungsverbände) and agreed administrative communities (vereinbarte Verwaltungsgemeinschaften). However, the concentration of the administration of the member municipalities into a core administration (Kernverwaltung) is not recognized in Baden-Württemberg, because each member municipality with more than 2,000 inhabitants can execute most of its administrative functions autonomously. Moreover, during municipal regional reform, when the municipality unions were formed, they were formed without amalgamating the smaller-sized municipalities in Schleswig-Holstein and Rhineland-Palatinate, unlike the other states. Although these municipal ity unions were first considered to be a transitional stage to the usual one-tier municipalities, little action has been taken, because they proved to be a suitable form of administration combining people-centered government (Bürgernähe) with modern administrative tactics. Although the incorporation into large municipalities and the amalgamation of smaller municipalities with fewer than 500 inhabitants without administrative abilities are inevitable, they are still a long way in the future and it is not yet feasible to abolish people-centered governments within a familiar area. However, it appears that the municipality systems of "small government" offices and municipalities in the Schleswig-Holstein area are not popular with the modern administration. Municipal reforms in th e new federal states were executed after reunification by introducing municipal regional reforms in the old federal states. But local municipality unions with strong and competent regional organizations, such as unified and combined municipalities, were never introduced. It is remarkable that a large part of the administrative functions of the member municipalities was entrusted to the member municipalities of larger town centers in the systems entrusting administrations to another municipality (erfüllende Gemeinden). The systems were formed in Saxony and Thuringia, with a similar form of agreed administrative communities in Baden-Württemberg. Although the competence of such member municipalities is somewhat restricted due to the fact that their administrative functions are handled by a larger central town, this could prevent the development of doughnut-form municipality unions. Since poorer municipalities can receive more standard state subsidies by enlarging the size of their populations and can effectiviely save the administration costs by reducing administrative staffs, the municipality unions of the new federal states are shifting toward normal municipalities by amalgamating, as seen in Brandenburg, for example.
CITATION STYLE
Morikawa, H. (2005). Regional reform and the current situation of municipalities in rural Germany. Geographical Review of Japan, 78(7), 455–473. https://doi.org/10.4157/grj.78.455
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